Pages

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

To Try Tuesday - Banana Cream Pie

Sorry, I missed the last two Tuesdays but I had a good excuse. I was in Australia. It was so nice to catch up with family and eat some good Aussie tucker. Of course I get back home and two days later I am fighting a head cold. Right before Thanksgiving.

I wanted to have more than one dessert for Thanksgiving and it is a given there there will be pumpkin pie. I asked the family what their second choice is and they all chose banana cream pie. You know, that oh so traditional dessert for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is all about family and being thankful for what you have, so if my family wants to be thankful for banana cream pie, then I am happy to make it our tradition.

I couldn't find my usual recipe so I went with this one that I found in my binder. Since I am still fighting the above-mentioned cold, and given I am not a big fan of graham cracker crusts, I decided to go with a store-bought pie crust.

I found the custard to be way to sweet but when I got my girls to try a bit of it with some left over banana slices their eyes rolled in delight. I aim to please. Next time I would also make my own pie crust because I really think that this needs a nice deep crust so that you can layer lots of bananas and custard. Of course the whipped cream on top adds a little more sweetness. You might as well go the whole hog by this stage.

Of course as I was typing up this post and looking for recipe on the internet I found my original recipe. Here is a link to it.Below is the recipe I sort of followed this time minus the cracker crumb crust and the coconut caramel sauce. I just baked the pre-made pie crust, cooled it for 10 minutes, then layered sliced bananas with the custard, and topped it with whipped cream and sliced bananas.

Combine the graham cracker crumbs, nuts, melted butter and sugar in a bowl; mix until well blended. Pat the crumb mixture into the ring molds. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Let cool, leaving the ring molds in place.

Preparation: To make the sauce

Place the sugar in a small heavy-bottom saucepan over medium-high heat and stir constantly until it melts and turns golden brown. Do not let the sugar burn.

Carefully add the coconut milk, stirring vigorously. Cook over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes, until the sauce thickens slightly. Set aside.

Preparation: To make the custard

Combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a large saucepan. Whisk in the milk until the mixture is completely smooth. Place the saucepan over medium-low heat and stir until the mixture is warm.

Whisk the egg yolks in a small bowl until blended. Stir a small amount of the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks. Then pour the egg mixture back into the milk mixture. Cook for about 10 minutes, whisking vigorously, until the custard is quite thick. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla.

2 comments:

Felice, this looks great! My daughter has been a banana fan since she was born, and she would go nuts for this.Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well! My husband flew home from Honolulu Wednesday night and completely enjoyed your weather. I'm going to pop over next weekend while he has a 3 day layover... I can't wait!!